Week 12: Veggie CSA

This past week's share included:

2 zucchini, 2 summer squash, 2 cukes, 5 peppers, 1 bunch chard, 3 eggplant, 3 pounds tomatoes, 1 pound kentucky wonder beans and 2 pounds peaches

This week the photos are of how I store the things:

Tomatoes. Placed on a plate. Stem side down. Ready to eat as bruschettas.

Peaches. Conveniently left in a bowl on the counter so that they are easy to grab for lunches.

Green Peppers. Bagged up and ready to bring to work to giveaway. Sorry peppers. Wanh wanh.

Cucumber and eggplants. Wrapped up in Debbie Meyers Veggie bags then placed in the fridge. The cucumber was taken out and eaten as is. The eggplants will likely go into stirfry.

Squash and zucchini steamed and bagged, then wedged into the freezer.

The chard and green beans were also prepped and frozen. I just forgot to take pictures of them.

What did others do with their veggies this week?

Spiced Peaches

My Mom remembers her own mother canning spiced peaches every year. The recipe got lost over time, but I suspect, based on where they lived, that it may be of Amish or Mennonite origin. Last year, I tried a spiced peach recipe that included vinegar. It was fine, but I tried a different recipe this year. I am hoping this one is closer to her memory.

This year, I made a recipe from Ball Preserving for Honey-Spiced Peaches. In my batch, three jars have cinnamon, allspice and cloves; three jars have star anise; and, two jars have no spices. I am looking forward to trying them, and maybe reading some old cookbooks to see if I can find that original recipe.

Apples and Honey

In Jewish tradition, one eats apples and honey at this time of year. The apples and honey signify the hope for a sweet new year. As I face down the last days of summer, and prepare for the onslaught of fall, I like the thought of eating apples and honey as a way to pray for serenity over the next couple months. However, for fear of using up all my good karma in one year, I decided that we shouldn't eat all of the apples we picked this way, and instead put some up in the form of applesauce for later this year.

Earlier this week we took the kids apple-picking at Honey Pot Hill Orchards.

We brought home apples and pears. I made this basic applesauce recipe from Ball Preserving.

I used 6 lbs of apples, weighed before they were cored and peeled. 2 cups of water, 2 T lemon juice and no sugar. It made 4 pint jars and 4 Rutabaga size (4 oz.) jars.

As simple as the recipe is, I find myself drawn to want to continue working with it. This is the only recipe that I canned last year, and repeated this year. In the next batch, I might tinker with the pace of softening the apples or using cider instead of water, or other small details.

Also, check out the beautiful labels I received! They make the jars look almost professional. Thank you for sending them!

Size does matter

It occurred to me this morning that size does matter, apparently particularly when you are 3 years old. 

While I was making pancakes for breakfast, the Rutabaga requested "tiny pancakes." He then proceeded to steal them off the warming plate as soon as they landed. At one point, I walked away and upon coming back, he pointed out to me that his plate was empty and was ready for more little pancakes. It made me laugh. It occurred to me that the same thing happens when baby carrots are offered. I am now wondering what else I could entice him to eat, if I only right-sized it for him.

Here's the Vegan Banana Pancake recipe, which I'm currently obsessed with.